New power projects to boost Alsons’s 2019 income by 30%

By Lenie Lectura - May 31, 2019

https://businessmirror.com.ph/2019/05/31/new-power-projects-to-boost-alsonss-2019-income-by-30/

THE new power projects lined up for the year will help boost the revenues of Alsons Consolidated Resources Inc., (ACR) of the Alcantara Group by 30 percent, a top official said on Thursday.

Robert Yenko, ACR chief financial officer, said after the company’s stockholders’ meeting that “revenues will be at least 20 percent better this year than last year.”

Two baseload plants will come onstream including one that will start commercial operations in the second half of 2019.

The second unit of the coal-fired power plant of Sarangani Energy Corp. (SEC) in Maasim, Sarangani, will start operating later this year, with an additional 105 megawatts (MW) that will benefit 3 million consumers in South Cotabato, Davao del Sur, Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, Misamis Oriental and North Cotabato.

Also, the San Ramon Power Inc. (SRPI) coal-fired power plant in Zamboanga City will finally start construction in the fourth quarter this year after naming the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor.

These prospective baseload plants have nearly all of their capacity fully contracted.

ACR EVP Tirso G. Santillan also said the company expects “good prospects for this year.”

“SEC 2 will add 105 MW to our capacity. There will be some additional revenues and income arising from that,” said Santillan, adding its property business will also contribute to the company’s topline.

Yenko said the ancillary services procurement agreement with the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) will boost company revenue.

“Another part to that is additional revenue from ancillary services from one of our diesel plants. That will also contribute to the better prospects for the year…On the cost, because of cost-cutting measures and lower debt, bottom line will also be better. We think this year will be better than last year,” he said.

Last year, the NGCP signed with ACR’s Western Mindanao Power Corp. (WMPC) for its 100-MW diesel plant in Zamboanga City to provide the grid operator with dispatchable generating capacity, reactive power support, and black start capability that would stabilize the power grid in the Zamboanga Peninsula.

Also last year, ACR tendered a proposal for its Southern Philippines Power Corp. (SPPC) diesel plant in Sarangani to provide ancillary services to the NGCP in order to help stabilize the power grid in Region 12.

ACR continues to pursue its initiatives in renewable energy with run-of-river power projects in Mindanao and Visayas.

“Our first renewable venture—the Siguil Hydro project—is on-track and we expect to go full blast with civil works later this year as we target the start of commercial operations in 2022,” Santillan said.

The company also plans to develop specific sites with a hydro potential totaling about 200 MW in specific sites including the Bago River in Negros Occidental, the Sindangan River in Zamboanga del Norte, and locations in Davao Oriental, Maitum Sarangani, the two Agusan provinces, and Surigao del Sur.

With the start of commercial operations of SEC’s second plant later this year, ACR will have a total installed capacity of 468 MW by the end of 2019.

Once the Siguil hydro project begins operating in the next three years and when SRPI goes onstream soon after, the company is expected to account for around 25 percent of Mindanao’s projected peak power demand.